Mail: Department of Geosciences
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
E DUCATION
Office: 535 Gould-Simpson
Phone: 520.262.8451 email: wardk@email.arizona.edu
The University of Arizona
Ph.D. in Geosciences, August 2016 (expected)
Tucson, AZ
Advisers: George Zandt and Susan L. Beck
Dissertation: Imaging the Lithospheric Structure of the Central Andes from the Joint Inversion of
Multiple Seismic Data Sets.
The University of Arizona
M.S. in Geosciences, August 2012
Advisers: George Zandt and Susan L. Beck
Tucson, AZ
Thesis: The Structure of the Crust and Uppermost Mantle Beneath the Central Andes from Ambient
Noise Tomography.
The Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA
B.S. in Geosciences, May 2010
Advisers: Kevin P. Furlong and David M. Bice
Thesis: Kinematic Analysis of the Marlborough Fault Zone, New Zealand since the Early Miocene.
Linn-Benton Community College Albany, OR
A.A.S. in Accounting Technology, August 2002
R ESEARCH I NTERESTS
§ Cordilleran tectonics and cyclicity in orogenic systems
§ Geodynamics of active orogenic systems
§ Evolution of large-scale silicic volcanic complexes
§ Quantifying continental magmatic fluxes in arcs
§ Advancing joint seismic and ambient noise tomography methods
P EER -R EVIEWED P UBLICATIONS (44 citations; h-index 3; Google Scholar 01/28/2016)
[6] Delph, J. R., Biryol, C. B., Beck, S. L., Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., and Ward, K. M.
, (2015), Shear wave velocity structure of the Anatolian Plate: anomalously slow crust in southwestern Turkey, Geophysical Journal
International , 202 (1), 261-276, doi: 10.1093/gji/ggv141.
[5] Ward, K. M.
, (2015), Ambient noise tomography across the southern Alaskan Cordillera, Geophysical
Research Letters , 42, 3218-3227, doi: 10.1002/2015GL063613.
[4] Beck, S. L., Zandt, G., Ward, K. M.
, and Scire, A., (2015), Multiple styles and scales of lithospheric foundering beneath the Puna Plateau, central Andes, Geological Society of America Memoirs 212 , doi:
10.1130/2015.1212(03).
Page 1 of 6
February 4, 2016

[3] Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Christensen, D. H., and McFarlin, H., (2014), Seismic imaging of the magmatic underpinnings beneath the Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex from the joint inversion of surface wave dispersion and receiver functions, Earth and Planetary Science Letters , 404, 43-53, doi:
10.1016/j.epsl.2014.07.022.
[2] Ward, K. M.
, Porter, R. C., Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Wagner, L. S., Minaya, E., and Tavera, H., (2014),
Erratum: Ambient noise tomography across the Central Andes, Geophysical Journal International , 196
(2), 1264-1265, doi: 10.1093/gji/ggt429.
[1] Ward, K. M.
, Porter, R. C., Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Wagner, L. S., Minaya, E., and Tavera, H., (2013),
Ambient noise tomography across the Central Andes, Geophysical Journal International , 194 (3), 1559-
1573, doi: 10.1093/gji/ggt166.
I N -P REP TO I N -P RESS P UBLICATIONS
[I] Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Wagner, L. S., Minaya, E., and Tavera, H., (2016), Lithospheric structure beneath the northern Central Andean Plateau from the joint inversion of ambient noise tomography and two-plane wave tomography, Journal of Geophysical Research (in-prep).
[II] Perkins, J. P., Ward, K. M.
, de Silva, S. L., Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., and Finnegan, N. J., (2016), Surface uplift in the Central Andes driven by melt flux into the Altiplano Puna Magma Body, Nature
Communications (in-review).
[III] Pepper, M., Gehrels, G., Pullen, A., Ibanez-Mejia, M., Ward, K. M.
, and Kapp, P., (2016), Magmatic
History and Crustal Genesis of South America: Constraints from U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes of detrital zircons in modern rivers, Geosphere (submitted).
[IV] McFarlin, H., Christensen, D. H., McNutt, S., Thompson, G., Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., and West, M.,
(2016), Receiver function analyses of Uturuncu Volcano, Bolivia, Tectonics (in-prep).
C ONFERENCE A BSTRACTS
[21] Haney, M. M., Tsai, V. C., and Ward, K. M.
, (2016), Moho depth and structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath Southern Alaska from Dix inversion of Rayleigh-wave phase velocity maps,
Seismological Society of America 2016 Annual Meeting. (Oral)
[20] Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., and Wagner, L. S., (2015), Seismic imaging of the upper mantle beneath the northern Central Andean Plateau: Implications for surface topography, Eos Trans.
American Geophysical Union, 2015 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract T33G-02. (Oral)
[19] Perkins, J. P., Ward, K. M.
, de Silva, S. L., Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., and Finnegan, N. J., (2015), Melt production constrained by the topographic signature of the Altiplano-Puna Magma Body, Eos Trans.
American Geophysical Union, 2015 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract T33G-05. (Oral)
[18] Beck, S. L., Zandt, G., Scire, A., Ward, K. M.
, Portner, D., Bishop, B., Ryan, J. C., Wagner, L. S., and
Long, M., (2015), Subduction zone science - examples of seismic images of the Central Andes and subducting Nazca Slab, Eos Trans. American Geophysical Union, 2015 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract
T41G-02. (Oral)
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[17] Beck, S. L., Zandt, G., Ward, K. M.
, and Delph, J. R., (2015), Mapping the continental lithosphere - 25 years of seismic imaging in the Andes, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol.
47, No. 7, p. 333. (Oral)
[16] Ward, K. M.
, (2015), Ambient noise tomography across the Alaskan Cordillera, Seismological Society of
America 2015 Annual Meeting. (Poster)
[15] Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Wagner, L. S., Minaya, E., and Tavera, H., (2014), Imaging a
Precambrian Mantle Suture in the Subandean Lithosphere by Surface Wave Tomography, Eos Trans.
American Geophysical Union, 2014 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract T32A-07. (Oral)
[14] McFarlin, H. M., Christensen, D. H., Thompson, G., McNutt, S. R., Ryan, J. C., Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., and West, M. E., 2014, Receiver Function Analyses of Uturuncu Volcano, Bolivia and
Lastarria/Cordon Del Azufre Volcanoes, Chile, Eos Trans. American Geophysical Union, 2014 Fall
Meeting Suppl., Abstract V31E-4792. (Poster)
[13] Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Christensen, D. H., and McFarlin, H., (2014), Seismic imaging of the magmatic underpinnings beneath the Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex from the joint inversion of surface wave dispersion and receiver functions, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
2014 Workshop, Science Highlight 0040. (Poster)
[12] Delph, J. R., Biryol, C. B., Beck, S. L., Zandt, G., and Ward, K. M.
, (2014), Shear-wave velocity structure of the Anatolian Plate and surrounding regions, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
2014 Workshop, Science Highlight 0018. (Poster)
[11] McFarlin, H., Christensen, D. H., Thompson, G., McNutt, S., Ryan, J. C., Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., and
West, M., (2014), Receiver function analyses of Uturuncu volcano, Bolivia, Seismological Society of
America 2014 Annual Meeting. (Poster)
[10] Zandt, G., Ward, K. M.
, and Beck, S. L., Geophysical constraints on the crustal-scale magmatic architecture of the central Andean Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex, Californian Goldschmidt (2014)
Conference, Arc magmatism and crustal forensics in the Andes Workshop. (Oral)
[09] Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Christensen, D. H., and McFarlin, H., (2013), Seismic imaging of a nascent batholith in the central Andes, Eos Trans. American Geophysical Union, 2013 Fall Meeting
Suppl., Abstract V12B-06. (Oral)
[08] Delph, J. R., Biryol, C. B., Beck, S. L., Zandt, G., and Ward, K. M.
, (2013), Shear-wave velocity structure of the Anatolian plate and surrounding regions using ambient noise tomography, Eos Trans.
American Geophysical Union, 2013 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract T31E-2561. (Poster)
[07] Wagner, L. S., Beck, S. L., Zandt, G., Long, D. L., Tavera, H., Minaya, E., Biryol, C. B., Bishop, B.,
Eakin, C. M., Franca, G. S., Knezevic Antonijevic, S., Kumar, A., Ryan, J. C., Scire, A. C., Ward, K.
M.
, and Young, B. E., (2013), The continental distillery: building thick continental crust in the central
Andes, Eos Trans. American Geophysical Union, 2013 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract T42B-06. (Oral)
[06] Roecker, S. W., Beck, S. L., Morell, M., Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Meltzer, A., Stachnik, J. C., Russo, R. M.,
Torpey, M., and Benz, H., (2013), Aftershocks and Images of South Central Chile: Results from the
Analysis of the IMAD Data Set, Eos Trans. American Geophysical Union, 2013 Spring Meeting
Suppl., Abstract S23C-06. (Oral)
Page 3 of 6
February 4, 2016

[05] Ward, K. M.
, Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Porter, R. C., Wagner, L. S., Minaya, E., and Tavera, H., (2012), The structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the central Andes from ambient noise tomography: imaging the Neogene to modern batholith, Eos Trans. American Geophysical Union,
2012 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract T24C-04. (Oral)
[04] Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Ward, K. M.
, and Wagner, L. S., (2012), Seismic imaging of a modern cordilleran batholith in the central Andes, Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 44, No.
7, p. 382. (Oral)
[03] Ward, K. M.
, Porter, R. C., Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Wagner, L. S., Minaya, E., and Tavera, H., (2012),
Ambient noise tomography of the central Andes, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
2012 Workshop, Science Highlight 0091. (Poster)
[02] Morell, M., Ward, K. M.
, Beck, S. L., Roecker, S. W., Meltzer, A., and Russo, R. M., (2012), Imaging the forearc in south-central Chile using receiver function migration and ambient noise tomography,
Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology 2012 Workshop, Science Highlight 0041. (Poster)
[01] Ryan, J. C., Ward, K. M.
, Porter, R. C., Zandt, G., Beck, S. L., Wagner, L. S., Minaya, E., and Tavera, H.,
(2011), Preliminary results from the CAUGHT experiment: investigation of the north central Andes subsurface using receiver functions and ambient noise tomography, Eos Trans. American
Geophysical Union, 2011 Fall Meeting Suppl., Abstract T11B-2323. (Poster)
T EACHING E XPERIENCE
§ Workshop Instructor (University of Arizona) o Ambient noise tomography workshop instructor ~ Participants included individuals from several South American and North American universities ranging from graduate students to professors. Part of the NSF funded Multi-Scale Imaging of Modern South America
(MIMOSA) project, January 2016. PIs Dr. Susan L. Beck and Dr. George Zandt.
§ Teaching Assistant (University of Arizona) o GEOS 322, Introduction to Geophysics, Spring 2016 (Dr. Richard A. Bennett) o GEOS 170A, Earth: From Birth to Death, Fall 2014 (Dr. Jessica Kapp) o GEOS 218, Geological Disasters and Society, Spring 2014 (Dr. Randall M. Richardson) o GEOS 218, Geological Disasters and Society, Fall 2011 (Dr. Susan L. Beck) o GEOS 322, Introduction to Geophysics, Spring 2011 (Dr. Susan L. Beck)
§ Teaching Intern (Pennsylvania State University) o EARTH 106, The Geology and Tectonics of Africa, Fall 2009 (Dr. Andrew A. Nyblade)
F IELD E XPERIENCE
§ Research Assistant (University of Arizona) o Assisted in the pullout of a large (50 station) broadband seismic array in Bolivia/Peru for the
NSF funded continental dynamics project Central Andean Uplift and the Geodynamics of
High Topography (CAUGHT) Fall 2012. Seismic PIs Dr. Susan L. Beck, Dr. George Zandt, and Dr. Lara S. Wagner. o Assisted in the deployment of a large (40 stations) broadband seismic array in Peru for the
NSF funded continental dynamics project PerU Lithosphere and Slab Experiment (PULSE)
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Summer 2011. Seismic PIs Dr. Susan L. Beck, Dr. George Zandt, Dr. Lara S. Wagner, and
Maureen D. Long. o Assisted in the deployment of a large (50 stations) broadband seismic array in Bolivia/Peru for the NSF funded continental dynamics project Central Andean Uplift and the
Geodynamics of High Topography (CAUGHT) Summer 2010. Seismic PIs Dr. Susan L.
Beck, Dr. George Zandt, and Dr. Lara S. Wagner.
S TUDENTS S UPERVISED
§ Alice Lai, University of Arizona (B.S. 2016) ~ Inversion of phase velocity data for shear-velocity structure of the Andean crust and mantle, Fall 2015 – Spring 2016.
A WARDS AND S CHOLARSHIPS
§ Sulzer Earth Sciences Scholarship (spring 2016)
§ UAGS and GEOCLUB GRL publication fee award (fall 2014)
§ John & Nancy Sumner Scholarship (summer 2014)
§ Sulzer Earth Sciences Scholarship (spring 2014)
§ GeoDaze Best Presentation – Geophysics (spring 2013)
§ Outstanding Student Paper Award AGU – Tectonophysics (fall 2012)
§ Chevron-Texaco Geology Fellowship (summer 2012)
§ Galileo Circle Scholar (spring 2012)
§ BP Geophysics Scholarship (fall 2011)
§ Chevron-Texaco Scholarship (summer 2011)
§ Barton P. Cahir Award Endowment in Earth and Mineral Sciences (spring 2009)
§ James and Nancy Hedberg Scholarship in Geosciences (fall 2009)
§ Scholarship from the Arthur P. Honess Memorial Fund (fall 2008)
§ Outstanding Accounting Technology Student (spring 2002)
§ Janie Conner scholarship (spring 2002)
C OMMUNITY S ERVICE
§ University of Arizona geophysics search committee graduate student representative (2015)
§ American Geophysical Union student volunteer (2015)
§ GeoDaze treasurer chair (2014-15)
§ Graduate student faculty representative (2014)
§ University of Arizona Geophysics Society (UAGS) President (2012-14)
§ GeoDaze field-trip committee chair (spring 2013)
§ Field Trip assistant for the NSF funded SAGUARO program (spring 2012)
§ GeoDaze field-trip committee chair (spring 2012)
§ GeoDaze field-trip committee co-chair (spring 2011)
P ROFESSIONAL M EMBERSHIPS
§ Geological Society of America - GSA (2013-current)
§ Society of Exploration Geophysicists - SEG (2012-current)
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§ Seismological Society of America - SSA (2012-current)
§ American Geophysical Union - AGU (2010-current)
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